3 am
by Kodoku 0okami
Summary: "We should head home, it's getting cold outside." Zelda rumages through her messenger bag and hands me my now repaired raincoat before putting hers on. I look at her, somewhat amazed. How can she tell me that she has leukemia and then completely change the subject, seeming completely unfazed by the matter? ZeLink AU Modern Hyrule.
1. Chapter 1

**Another fanfic inspired by a song (and other means). In this case, the songs 3 a.m. by Matchbox Twenty along with my personal experience over the past few years with my mother having medical issues.**

**Aside from that, I hope anyone reading this enjoys this since I realize some readers seem to like the more serious, or dark plots that seem to show up in the nice place where cats are high on pocky every other day known as my imagination.**

**At this point I'm guessing its 'lifespan' will be ten chapters or so but I'm not sure so only time will tell I guess. I'm planning on doing a oneshot with Link x Ilia rather than ZeLink like I've done with basically every story I have on this site. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

Her words hang in the air, making my heart feel heavier than the rain pouring onto our umbrellas as we stand at the bus stop. "Cancer...?" I look at Zelda, who is avoiding eye contact as she nods in response.

"I was at the doctor's a few days ago because Father was bothered by the fact I have a lot of bruises that haven't been going away ..." She murmurs.

"...You're gonna be treated for it though, right?" I move my head a bit to the side to try to see her face clearly through her messy, wind blown blonde hair.

"The doctor said he'd see what they can do with chemotherapy or radiation... something along those lines since it's something used a lot to treat leukemia." She looks up at me, forcing a smile. "We should head home, it's getting cold outside." Zelda rumages through her messenger bag and hands me my now repaired raincoat before putting hers on. I look at her, somewhat amazed. How can she tell me that she has leukemia and then completely change the subject, seeming completely unfazed by the matter?

"Thanks for fixing this..." I say after taking a couple minutes to try to wrap my head around it. I thumb over the sewn part of it that was previously torn before slipping it on over my surprisingly not drenched cream and blue long sleeve shirt.

"No problem," she replies before beginning to walk towards her house. "Isn't your apartment that way, Link?" Zelda asks while pointing to the opposite direction of where we're walking despite knowing where I live.

"I want to walk you home." I feel my face burn up as soon as I realize that I said that out loud. "I-If you don't mind..."

For the first time in the past few days, she laughs a bit at my failure to rephrase my statement. "Sure."

* * *

"...Today you'll be starting to do research on the Sky Era in Hyrule's history. With a partner, you'll be writing a paper with a seven paragraph minimum on your assigned historical figure, place, or event that you will draw from this cup at random-" Professor Owlan's lecture is disrupted by a knock at the door. He walks over and looks through the door's window before opening it. Zelda walks over into class after handing a piece of paper to him. After skimming over it, he folds the paper in half and places it on his desk before proceeding to getting on with the lecture once Zelda takes her seat next to Karane. "As I was saying, you'll be picking your research topic by drawing a piece of paper from this cup..." I look at Zelda from across the room, catching her glancing at me.

"Of course he lets the principal's daughter into the room even though she's missed half of the class... If it was anyone else Professor Owlan would've made them stay in the hallway and write them up as absent." Cawlin murmurs in an almost inaudible voice to avoid the teacher hearing.

"If you weren't late to class every day he wouldn't do that to you." I mutter.

"I wasn't asking you, moron." he retorts, making me have to surpress the urge to facepalm at the next wise guy at this high school.

"Link." Professor Owlan clears his throat, making me face forward in my seat.

"What?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your _very _ important conversation but I expect you to be attentive in class unless you want to be sent to the office. Understood?" He gives me an all too familiar scolding look.

"Understood." It's only then I remember I have to draw my topic out of the cup, so I reach my hand into it and pull out one from the very bottom. I unfold it and see my topic: the Wing Ceremony. A few minutes later Professor Owlan returns to the front of the classroom, looking at the clock.

"For the last three minutes of class, I will list off the topics. When yours is called, come to the front of the room and I will hand you and your partner the rubric." At that point I begin to shut my textbook and my notebook containing information we had to jot down from the power point notes we do on a regular basis. I stare at the clock out of boredom and desperation, wanting to get out of this blasted classroom already. "Wing Ceremony." I get up and approach the front desk.

"Oh great," Groose glares at me for a brief moment before taking his copy of the rubric. "Can I change my research paper topic with someone else?"

"I'm afraid not. If I allowed you to do so, I would have to give everyone else the same opportunity." Professor Owlan hands me my paper that I shove into my textbook that's twice the size it should be due to keeping worksheets in them but never tossing them.

"But-"

"My decision is final, now return to your seat before the bell rings to dismiss you or I'll keep you here an additional five minutes instead of letting you go to lunch right away like your classmates." I gain a scowl from Groose before I turn around and return to my desk.

"Well, I'm screwed..." I pull out the rubric again for the minute of class I have left, seeing that the overall grade is based on how well me and my partner get along along with how the paper itself comes out. Afterwards I look at the other requirements, reading the things needed for all points possible and less than that.

"Link, didn't you hear the bell ring?" Zelda stands over me after a few minutes.

"Oh, yeah." I respond sheepishly before putting the rubric back and walking out of the classroom with her. The hall is filled with its usual occupants of people who walk very slow, the group that decides to take up the whole hallway standing there talking, and the very few people who avoid chitchat and focus on navigating through the sea of students. "So... what topic did you get?"

"I'm doing a paper on Hylia with Pipit." She looks at me for a brief second before focusing on avoiding people bumping into her.

"That's cool." I reply before she turns to her locker and begins putting in her combination. I stare at the closed locker next to hers awkwardly. "What was that paper you gave Professor Owlan?"

"Doctor's note..." Zelda shuts her locker and begins to walk with me to mine.

"You had to give him that when your dad could have told him why you were late to history?"

"If I didn't Professor Owlen would have put an unexcused tardy in his papers. I thought you of all people would be aware of how strict he is with everyone." I open my locker without entering the combination, having no need to do so since I broke it last year by kicking it a bit too hard. I place my books inside and grab my lunch before slamming it shut and begin walking down the hall to the cafeteria. Upon entering the room, I walk to the table in the corner of the cafeteria, taking a seat next to Pipit.

"Zelda, where were you this morning?" Karane shifts in her seat across from me and Pipit to see Zelda sit down.

"I-I slept in. Kind of spent too long studying for science last night." She gives Karane a crooked smile. I glance at her for a moment before opening my sack lunch and taking out a cucco sandwhich.

"_You _sleep in?" Pipit looks at her in udder disbelief. "I expect that from Link... only without the studying part, not the Principal's daughter that hasn't missed a day of school in her life or come in late."

"Hey!" I interrupt, my mouth full of food.

He glances at me with no remorse as to what he said. "Face it. If we weren't roommates then you would probably be asleep on the floor right now, tangled in your bed sheets."

I take a drink of my bottled milk. "You can at least pretend that you're sorry."

"Why should I? It's the truth." Pipit scoffs. "Zelda, you've known Link longer than I have. Doesn't he basically go into a comatose state whenever he falls asleep?"

She doesn't reply, staring blankly at her food before snapping out of it and looking up. "...Wait, what?"

"Doesn't Link pretty much go into a coma whenever he falls asleep?" He asks again while I contine to eat my sandwich.

Zelda nods, "I guess that's one way to put it."

I remain silent for a moment. "So you'll get mad at me for saying it but if it's Zelda then it's a completely different story?"

"That's not it at all, Pipit... Just let me eat my sandwich in peace without bashing on my sleeping habits anymore, okay?" I finish my sandwhich and discard the baggy it was in, putting it in my paper bag. I grab out an apple and begin snacking on it, not exactly full yet.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Pipit raises an eyebrow as I start walking with Zelda to her house after the bus dropped us off.

"I'll be home in a bit. I'm just going to get some notes to copy for the exams next week." I lie, gaining a confused glance from him before he turns around and heads home. Then, I catch up to Zelda who's a few feet ahead of me. "Why didn't you tell them?" I ask the question that has been in the back of my head since lunch when she lied about sleeping in.

Zelda stops midstep. "I don't want them to treat me any differently than they do now... I don't have much control of what happens from this point, but I can control whether or not they know."

"Then why did you tell me last week...?"

"There was no point in keeping it from you." She looks up at the blue sky and smiles a bit. "You would've probably caught on that something wasn't right soon enough... You may be a sleepyhead but you don't overlook much like Karane and Pipit do. Besides, if one of them knew they'd tell the other and I know Karane can't keep her mouth shut even if she was bribed with five hundred rupees."

"...True." I admit. "But if you keep coming in late or miss school then someone's going to notice eventually... Whether or not Karane and Pipit can keep a secret, they're your friends too. They care."

"I know... but like you said. They'll know eventually, one way or another..." She goes back to walking, at some point turning around facing me while walking backwards. "Whether you tell them, they figure it out, or if I tell them."

"I wouldn't tell Pipit or Karane."

"How come?" Zelda gives me a confused glance. "I wouldn't be mad."

"Well, for one they really wouldn't be able to shut up about it and Karane might be mad that you told me before anyone else. Besides... It's not my secret to tell whether or not you would be mad at me for doing so." We begin walking again, only a few houses away from hers.

"If I ended up telling them... Would you help me?"

I stare at the pavement for a moment, smiling bitterly. How do I end up in these situations? "...I would."


	2. Rain

**Hello~**

**Dia Newman: Thank you... The Fault in Our Stars? I think I've heard of it from some youtube video comments at some point but I've never read it. **

**Guest: To tell you the truth, I haven't figured out whether or not this story will end up being along the lines of tragic or if there will be any character deaths. I'm still debating on what sort of direction this story will be going in. I'm sorry I don't have any definite answers for you at this time, and thanks for the feedback. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

"Hello, Link." Zelda's father greets from the kitchen as I enter the house with her.

"Hello, Mr. Harkinian." I nod my head slightly as I return the favor.

He gives me an estranged look. "What's with the formalities? We're not at the school, you know I don't mind if you call me Gaepora."

"...Oh yeah." I glance at Zelda, who's hanging her messanger bag on a chair before going to the fridge.

"Want something to drink?" She asks, turning from the fridge towards me.

"No thanks, I'm good." Zelda grabs a pop from the fridge before shutting it.

"So what brings you here all of a sudden? You haven't visited in a long time." Gaepora looks up from his paperwork.

Zelda answers before I can open my mouth, "I told Link I would lend him my notes so he can study for next week's exams."

"Link? Study?" I try not to roll my eyes at this reaction.

"I study for tests when it's later since Pipit goes to sleep by then meaning I can't blast music or anything to distract myself from studying." I glance to the side, not exactly happy that I'm admitting this since no one else is aware that I study despite contrary belief.

"Your grades don't exactly show for it." Zelda jokingly comments.

"I said that I study late at night... Never said how long until I fall asleep though." I sheepishly reply. "Besides, I do enough extra credit assignments to get by."

Gaepora chuckles a bit, "That seems to be a fair enough explanation."

"I'll go get the notes. Be back in a sec." She leaves the kitchen.

"I don't know how she does it... She's obviously her mother's child."

"What?" I look at Gaepora confusingly.

"I'm aware that she told you that she has cancer." He bluntly replies. "I was saying how I don't understand how she could be so calm about it."

I sigh, "me neither-" Zelda returns with the papers so I stop myself from saying anything else. She hands me the slightly wrinkled papers covered in her careful handwriting. "Thanks."

"No problem..." She pauses for a few minutes. "By the way, you two don't need to stop talking all of a sudden just because I came back into the room." Gaepora and I exchange hopeless glances as she takes a sip of her drink.

I clear my throat awkwardly, "I should get going before Pipit tries making some sort of concoction for dinner... or ends up burning the apartment down if he's unsuccessful."

"Alright." Zelda replies.

"It's been good seeing you, Link. Please, don't be a stranger. This place is a lot livelier when you come to visit. It's a nice change from doing paperwork all the time while Zelda locks herself in her room and does whatever floats her boat." Zelda gives Gaepora a quick glare after he says this and I try not to look too amused by the scene.

"Okay. See you at school, Zel." I escort myself out the door.

* * *

"Yo." Pipit greets as I walk into the apartment while he sits in his office chair backwards.

"Hey Pipit." I put my bag on the ground before plopping onto the couch.

"What took you so long to get back here?"

"I was talking to Mr. Harkinian a bit since Zelda was looking for her notes." I yawn.

He looks at me, unconvinced. "You sure you didn't lose track of time sucking face with your girlfriend?"

I glare at him, "that's a load of bull and you know it, Zelda isn't my girlfriend and I wouldn't be seen making out with anyone in a million years." I get up from sitting on the couch and then grab the fire extinguisher from the living room closet. "You can make dinner tonight because of that. If you catch anything on fire have fun putting it out. If you can't figure out how to do that, don't bother trying to wake me up before you leave this place going up in flames."

I hand him the fire extinguisher and then go into our shared room. Once there, I slam the door shut and take my place on the bottom bunk bed.

* * *

"...and that concludes today's lesson." The bell rings just after Professor Owlan turns off the projector. "Tomorrow you will be given time to work on your research in the computer lab so be sure to discuss with your partner what parts of the project you will be doing on your own time. Class is dismissed." The classroom falls silent with the exception of chairs being pushed out from the desks then put back in their respective places. The door creaks open when Professor Owlan props the door open before going across the hall to the printer room. I stop gathering my things when a shadow is cast over me.

"What do you want?" I murmur with disinterest.

"Goodie two shoes didn't listen to the instructor like the teacher's pet he is? We have to finish that research project on the Wing Ceremony." Groose holds his rubric up to my face and uses a tone that's more appropriate for a small child than a seventeen-year-old. "In other words, _you _can do the assignment on your own. Just make sure some of it is dumbed down, okay?"

"To make sure you sound even more ignorant than you really are, Groose? I didn't think that was possible." I retort.

"You little-!" I'm grabbed by the collar, and am pulled up to his eye level.

"Hey! What's going on in here?!" I'm dropped almost like a ragdoll and I stumble to regain my balance.

"N-Nothing Prof. Owlan... L-Link and I were just joking around." Groose slams his palm into my back, knocking me into the desk. "...Right?" He adds in an intimidating tone under his breath.

"Yeah..." I reply with a rather flat tone.

"Groose, report to the office. I'll call the secretary so they'll be expecting you shortly. Link, I'd like you to stay here for a moment." Professor Owlan points to the door and watches with a very unamused look on his face as Groose drags his feet, exitting the room. "Is there something wrong, Link?"

"There isn't."

"You've been spacing out in class more than usual and this isn't the first time I've seen Groose act violent towards you this year. Would you like to work on the project individually?" I readjust the desk before grabbing my books.

"I don't care either way. I need to get to lunch, bye." I awkwardly walk backwards for a few moments before leaving the room. I go down the hall to my locker and put my books in it before going to the cafeteria, not even bothering to grab some lunch.

"Heyyy..." Karane greets, looking slightly confused when I sit down. "What's got you so ticked off?"

I raise an eyebrow, "what do you mean by ticked off?"

"You look mad." She states rather bluntly before taking a bite of food.

"It's nothing." I shake my head a bit.

"Okay then... Have you seen Zelda or Pipit today?"

"They're taking their language arts exam right now since they're in the advance class... We have to take it the day after tomorrow when they finish it up so we won't be able to eat lunch together at all this week." I get up out of my seat despite just sitting down a few seconds ago.

"Where are you going?"

"I forgot something at my locker." I reply before going to my locker again, digging through my bag to find the notes Zelda lent to me. Shutting my locker, I walk back to the cafeteria and return to my seat. I skim through the page, trying to find where I was reading last night before I dozed off.

"I get you're apparently studying and I keep pestering you with all of these questions but what's gotten into you and Zelda lately? Pipit said you got really mad at him last Friday because he was joking around... and Zelda's really quiet lately, it isn't like either of you at all. Did you two fight or something?" I look up from the papers at Karane, who no longer has a tray of food in front of her but instead gives me a concerned look.

"We didn't fight or anything... Guess it's just stress from having to study for these stupid exams." I go back to looking over the notes and the conversation dies off from there.

* * *

The bell rings after I stare at the clock in agonizing boredom for ten minutes. "Finally... I never thought seventh hour would be over." I mutter under my breath as I grab my books and head to the door.

"Have a great day," Mr. Horwell calls when I begin to leave the room.

"You too." I reply before going down the hall to my locker for the final time today. I stuff my bag with various books and a notebook containing the rough draft of my history paper on the Wing Ceremony. Afterwards I navigate through the sea of people to get outside and onto the bus. I look out of the window to the cloudy parking lot of the school. The bus gets louder and louder as people get on it, irking me to some extent.

"Hey." Zelda sits next to me.

I look at her, "How'd testing go?"

"It was stupid... Half of what was on there wasn't even covered in class this year. It was stuff from middle school."

"So it was easy, huh?" I smirk a bit.

"Kind of... Oh, and Pipit came into the testing room late so he had to stay so he could get the same amount of testing time as the rest of us. Father's going to take him to your house once he gets out of a meeting with the school board."

"Okay then." I reply.

"So what do you want to do?" Zelda puts her bag on her lap.

"What do you mean? I have to study when I get home-"

She cuts me off, "Not that, silly. I mean for your birthday."

"My birthday?"

Zelda sighs while shaking her head, "Don't tell me you actually trying in school fried your brain. You're birthday's this weekend, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." I sheepishly reply. "Sort of forgot since school's been keeping me busy."

She glances at her bag before looking at me. "Link... is that the truth? Even Pipit's freaked out by how much you've been hitting the books all of a sudden. You usually aren't so worried about your grades like this and you know there's retakes available if you aren't satisfied with your score and if it's below a C."

"It is. I just want to try to ace a test without taking it over for once."

"If you say so..." She sighs. I pull out the notes and turn to the page I was on before they're taken from me without a warning.

"Hey-"

"Look... No more studying today, okay? Whether or not what you said is true, if you stress yourself out you're going to get sick. There'd be no point in trying so hard if you end up missing school the day of the exam, now would there?" Zelda puts the notes in her bag after I nod in response, accepting defeat. "I'll give these back to you tomorrow... Alright?"

"Okay." I glance to the side, getting a brief look at the scenary outside the window as the bus drives past it. Eventually we reach our stop and the bus's breaks screech until we reach a complete stop. The bus driver opens the door and then we walk down the isle way and off of the bus. I turn towards the direction of my apartment and then start to walk. "Aren't you going home?" I stop midstep when I realize that Zelda's walking with me.

"If you want me to I will... I figured I'd visit since Father's going to your house later anyway. I can just get a ride with him home."

"Oh. Okay." I reply before walking again. "The apartment isn't exactly the cleanest though since Pipit has his textbooks on the Sky Era all over the place as usual."

"It's alright." She replies as we approach the door and I grab out my key to unlock the door.

I put my bag on the ground where I usually end up tossing it when I enter the apartment. "Go ahead and make yourself at home. If you want a snack or something you can help yourself." I go to the kitchen and look in the fridge to find leftovers from last night's dinner. I put it in the microwave and then return to the living room to see Zelda passed out on the couch. "Well that was quick..." I murmur. "Looks like the exams took a bit out of her." I turn back to the kitchen after a minute or so when the microwave beeps. I grab a fork and sit at the table with my leftovers and scarf the food down, hungry from skipping lunch. Afterwards I put my used dishes into the sink and sit next to Zelda on the couch.

"...Are you mad at me?" I look over at her confused by the question to see her eyes still closed.

_Is she talking in her sleep or...? _ I give her a confused glance before deciding to reply since she could just have her eyes closed.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"You've been acting weird... since I told you..." Zelda murmurs.

"T...That has nothing to do with it. Why would you think that I would be mad since you told me?"

She shrugs, making me almost completely sure that she's still awake, at least for the moment. "Nevermind... Link?"

"What?" I raise an eyebrow, completely baffled at this point by her sudden lack of ability to stay on topic for more than just a few minutes.

"If there's ever a time where we're not friends anymore... I'd rather it be my fault than it to be because we argued or something... Is that weird?"

"Zelda, why are you saying this stuff out of nowhere?" I wait a few minutes, the only sort of 'reply' I get being the sound of thunder rolling. I sigh before answering her truthfully now that she's asleep. "It's not weird... but I don't want to stop being friends with you. Time seems to wash away a lot of things, almost as if it were rain..." I give a bitter smirk. "I'm not mad at you for telling me. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't scared out of my mind right now, though..."


	3. A Slip of Tongue

**Hello~**

**Guest: I'm writing multiple drafts for this story during my freetime with the chaos of ECAs and stuff coming up at school, so I'm trying to work this out. There is something that I guarantee will be in a later chapter that you may end up liking. But in the meantime I apologize but I don't see much of a point spoiling how I'm going to end this since it would defeat the purpose of reading it. Your concerns aren't being disregarded and I will try to make this story satisfying to everyone reading as much as possible. **

**ShadowNinja1011: I assume that this sort of has to do with your review on _ Rewind_?**

**Dia Newman: I'll keep the recommendation in mind! Should give me something to do over the summer when school is over with in the next few weeks for me. I based Link's study-craze off of something I noticed that I've made a habit of if I'm in a bad mood, basically I'll do something boring until I'm in a brain-dead like state so I don't think about what may be going on in my life at that moment. Thanks!**

**On a somewhat irrelevant note, am I the only one who thinks that an Australian or British accent would suit Pipit's character? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

"Hey, get up." I'm kicked in the back as a last resort due to my lack of response at being shaken.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I turn over, half asleep as I look at Pipit rather unamused.

"If you don't get up and get ready in the next five minutes then we're going to be late to the bus. I'm assuming that you don't want to do that since you've been shutting the world out to study all week... well when you had those notes with you before Zelda took them, anyway." He begins walking out of the room and heads to the kitchen. I bolt out of bed and then get dressed rather quickly before grabbing the first two socks I see, resulting in me wearing mismatched socks along with my rather rushed look of a wrinkly black shirt and jeans that I may or may not have worn yesterday. I then grab my bag and half run down the hall into the kitchen to see Pipit sitting there rather calmly, drinking coffee. When he notices I'm there, Pipit nearly spits out his drink laughing.

"What?"

"When's the last time you've looked up from your oh-so-important notes and paid attention to something else this week? It's Saturday, remember? There was an issue with the computers the exams are taken on so the exams are on Monday." He goes to the fridge and grabs out a gallon of milk before pouring it into his cereal bowl.

"Screw you." I glare at him before tossing my school bag onto the couch behind me.

"Happy Birthday, dude. Now if you're done being ticked off at me, you should eat breakfast and get something half decent on. We're going out to lunch later."

"What time is it?"

"Uh..." Pipit looks at his watch, "About seven o'clock."

"Why the fire temple did you wake me up this early?!"

"If I woke you up sooner then you would do this exact thing right before we left, minus the school bag and the look on your face that would make anyone want to keep their distance from you." He takes a bite of cereal. "Besides it wasn't my idea to wake you up thinking that it was a school day. I'm just playing along."

"Then who the crap came up with the idea?"

"You'll see who later. Quit gawking at me and eat breakfast already, would you?" I glare at Pipit once more before grabbing some bread and putting it in the toaster before taking some jelly out of the fridge. After a few minutes I take the toast out of the toaster, put it on a plate and then spread jelly on it before scarfing it down. "Where are you going?" He asks after I begin to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to go get ready so you can't bug me if I take a nap before we go."

* * *

"Hey," Karane waves as soon as she sees us.

"Hey Karane." Pipit greets her with a quick kiss, making me turn to the side awkwardly since it makes me feel as though I'm a third wheel on a date.

"So was it her idea to make you trick me into thinking it was a school day while I was half asleep?" I ask in a rather shallow tone.

"No." She smirks a bit. Something green is pulled over my eyes, alarming me for a brief moment.

"It was mine." I take off the green thing put on my head, which turns out to be a beanie hat and I see Zelda give me a somewhat amused look. "Happy birthday, Sleepyhead..." She pauses, "or should I say Studyholic?"

I roll my eyes at this comment. "Thanks for the hat." I put it on my head before putting my hands in my sweatshirt pocket.

"No problem." She replies.

"So how the heck are we supposed to go anywhere?" I raise an eyebrow, looking at all three of them.

Karane holds up some keys and makes them jingle a bit. "With my new car."

"You got your license?" Zelda looks at her a bit confused.

"Yeeaaahh... I hate parallel parking. Finally did that right for once during the driving test... never again." She unlocks the car and gets into the driver's seat. "Pick your seats." Pipit naturally ends up calling shotgun seat to be next to her. I open the backseat closest to me and hold it open for Zelda before getting in the other side.

"I don't mean to keep being negative or anything but where am I being dragged off to exactly?" I ask.

"Maybe it's a secret to everybody," Pipit replies sarcastically. "Just don't question it, okay?"

"Fine." I look out the window to see the sky no longer concealing its endless blue sea, the sun as high up in the sky as possible.

"Thank Farore you aren't studying still..." Zelda groans.

Karane interrupts before I can retort, "looks like we can call off that search party for the real Link Gale."

"S-Shut up..." I murmur, not bothering to look away from the window. "...The mall?" I raise an eyebrow and glance at Karane. She turns into the parking lot and completely ignores my question. The doors remain locked when Karane parks before she turns around and faces me.

"Here. Pipit and I were sort of clueless on what to get you so..." She hands me a big red rupee.

"B-but that's two hundred-"

"Your welcome. Now quit being so serious today and lighten up, would you?" Karane refuses to take it back from me.

"...fine." I reluctantly agree. The doors unlock and I get out, followed by Zelda.

"Why aren't you two getting out?" Zelda asks in a slightly raised voice so they can hear with the windows shut after a few minutes.

Pipit rolls down his window as Karane pulls out of the parking space, "We'll pick you two up around four. Have fun on your date!"

My face burns up when I hear this remark just as Karane begins to hit the gas and drive off before I can object. An awkward silence takes over as we stand in the sidewalk, almost as if we needed to process what just happened despite the fact we- well at least I- am fully aware as to what Karane and Pipit just did.

"Screw them..." I mutter under my breath.

"I-I guess we were ditched..." Zelda stutters.

I look at her to see her sheepishly glancing at some flowers planted in the windowsill. "You didn't know about this?"

"N-No! Why would I?" She replies rather frantically in a shaky voice that I've only seen her use when forced to give a presentation to the class.

"You usually are apart of their pranks on me." I say in a rather flat tone before looking at my watch and seeing that it's noon. "Well... I guess we have four hours to do whatever. What do you want to do?"

* * *

"This tastes good!" Zelda's eyes light up after taking a bite of pizza. I nod in agreement after I taste the homemade pepperoni pizza with a cheese-filled crust.

"Didn't you say you came here before? You look surprised that the food is good."

"I haven't been here in a long time... The last time I was here, I was five. My mother was friends with the restaurant owner but I haven't seen them or came here since she died..." She takes another bite before getting up. "I'm going to go get a drink. I'll be back in a second." I nod, not because my mouth is full but because I can't think of anything to say.

_I guess this is why she's able to act so normal about everything... I mean, Zelda inherited her frailness from somewhere, right? _ I think to myself, trying to remember the one time I ever met Zelda's mother when I was maybe six years old to no avail. I shake my head afterward, _I don't even remember my own parents that well... How would I remember her mom from over ten years ago? _

"Something wrong?"

"N-No." I reply as Zelda sits down again. I finish my last piece of pizza. "What do you want to do after you're done eating?"

"I already got to pick going here. Your turn." She goes back to eating her sausage pizza. I look out to the halls and try to spot an interesting place.

"Well... Is there any place I can finally get some minutes for my phone?"

"Yeah, the music store should have some cards for that... How come you don't have any spare money from work?" Zelda finishes eating and then I take our plates up to the trash can.

We start walking down the hall to the music store, "I've been saving some of it for college and a car, the rest goes toward rent."

"Oh," she replies in a rather flat tone. "That makes sense... But your grades aren't that bad, can't you get a scholarship or something so you don't have to work as hard for that stuff?"

"I need parental consent for that and obviously I don't have someone like that. I think I'll just stick to working. Not like I won't have to do that after I graduate." We walk into the music store and then I end up finding the right card, so I go to the counter and hand it to the cashier.

"Fifty rupees please." I hand him the rupee and take the card. "Thank you, have a great day."

"You too," Zelda replies, aware that I quite frankly don't like talking to any employees.

* * *

I look through my contacts until I find Pipit's. After clicking 'call' I stand there and wait for someone to pick up, to no avail. I hang up before it goes to voicemail. "Well he's apparently not answering... Do you have Karane's number?"

"No. I left my phone at home and I'm kind of bad at remembering phone numbers." She says, looking at the parking lot.

I sigh, "they better hurry up then. Looks like it's going to end up raining for the billionth time this week." I point at the clouds as it starts to sprinkle a bit. When the rain gets heavier, I look at Zelda. "We should get inside before-" A car horn honks.

"Hurry up already," Pipit hollars from his cracked open window. We run out to the car and get in, practically slamming the doors as we sit down. I glare at the two of them from the mirror that lets them see behind their seats. Making eye contact with me, Karane gives me a smug look before going back to keeping her eyes on the road.

"Bless you," I say when Zelda ends up sneezing a few times.

"Thanks."

I lean forward so I'm near Karane and Pipit, "so where the fire temple are we going now?"

"Out to eat, if you guys are hungry. If not I can drop you guys off."

"We ate already." I reply to Karane, leaning back and slumping in my seat.

"You did?" Pipit asks.

"Yeah. If you two didn't ditch us, you'd know." I reply sarcastically.

* * *

"What's with the dirty looks?" Pipit walks into the living room, drying his hair with a towel.

"Why did you and Karane do that?" I take my feet off of the coffe table, planning to end up going back to my room to sleep or study.

"What?" He pauses for a few minutes before looking at me annoyed. "You're still mad about that? That was hours ago!"

"Yeah. Kind of hard to not be mad when I was set up."

Pipit rolls his eyes, "please. You're actually complaining when you should've expected this to happen? How about you grow a pair and ask Zelda out like you've been meaning to for the past four years."

"Shut up!" I unintentionally raise my voice more than I would have liked to. "What gave you that idea!?"

"Well for instance you're over reacting right now and your face is completely red." His smart alecy tone irks me. "Besides that you two act really friendly around each other, not much point in denying that."

I sigh, somewhat defeated. "Look, Zelda's got enough to worry about without stressing over me or if we were in the scenario that I'd ask her out."

"Oh?" Pipit asks with a bit of interest. "Like what? You two have known each other so long I don't see what could possibly make you to going out change anything."

"Zelda has leukemia."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey~!**

**pizza: Yep, and I've used 'fire temple' as a replacement for the past few years even when speaking so I sound stupid when doing so. XP Your username makes me hungry while I'm sitting here at school working on this story by the way. **

**The Supreme: Thank you for the feedback! It does seem to be the case for loved ones in that situation most of the time. But seeing that I've been in a situation like that before, I honestly wonder some times what the person mainly affected is thinking, so that's why I went with Link's point of view on this story. **

**Guest: He said he wouldn't tell when the topic was originally discussed but then he promised to help tell them when she saw fit, only he accidently let it slip since people tend to speak before thinking when being teased or in arguments. (Basically why I called the chapter "A Slip of Tongue".) **

**SoulEaterBandit: Thanks Lucy-chan!**

**Dia Newman: Yep, Link screwed up three chapters into the story. XD (It's alright, I've written reviews while sort of in a rush so I get what you mean.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

Silence engulfs the room in an instant. _Idi__ot! Why did I say that without thinking?! _ I try not to slap myself in the head out of frustration.

"What...?"

I sigh, realizing that the hole I've begun to dig for myself is too big to get out of at this point. "She told me a while back that she has cancer... On that day you had student council duties to take care of. Zelda was scared to say anything about it to you or Karane for some reason and I guess I don't know what 'keep it a secret' means... She was going to have me help tell you two eventually but you obviously know now."

"...Did she say anything about how bad it is?" Pipit speaks up after a few minutes. I shake my head no.

"Look... if it isn't too much of an inconvenience, please don't say anything to Karane. Not yet. And please act like you're still unaware of this..."

He continues to give a darkened look in his eyes. "I won't say anything to her for a while but you and Zelda better get this sorted out. If Karane finds out I knew and didn't tell her-"

I cut him off, "I'll ask her about telling Karane and you... I don't think it would turn out well if I told Zelda that I kind of let that information slip, so don't worry about it."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Karane shakes me out of my spaced out state. I nod, gaining an unconvinced look from her. "You've been a total airhead since the exams were over with last week, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired." I shrug a bit.

"That's a load off bull-"

"Karane," Pipit shakes his head, swallowing his food. The conversation dies at this point, just as multiple others have lately. I put my barely touched lunch in my paper sack before getting up and throwing it away. I don't bother going back to the lunch table and instead head out of the cafeteria to go to my locker and get my stuff for the next class.

"Mr. Gale, a word please." I nearly jump as I hear Professor Owlan's voice suddenly come from behind me. I turn around, slowly shutting my locker while I'm at it. I nod, knowing I can't really refuse. Following him down the hall, I go to his classroom. "Have a seat."

"Alright." I sit in the front seat, slouching in the chair like usual.

"I apologize for bothering you but I've been meaning to pull you to the side for a while now." I try not to roll my eyes, here comes the lecture for whatever I've done wrong this time. "Mr. Harkinian is at a meeting out of town and I've been informed that Zelda will not be in school until further notice. Would you happen to be able to give her some assignments from last week and this week by tomorrow?"

"Yeah... I'll give them to her." I reply in a flat tone.

"Thank you," He says as I begin to walk out the door.

* * *

"Where are you going _ now?" _ Pipit groans as I begin to go in the opposite direction from him once we're off the bus.

"Professor Owlan wanted me to give Zelda some assignments... He said she wouldn't be at school until further notice." I murmur.

"Oh... did he say why?" I shake my head no before going back to walking.

"I'll be home whenever. Feel free to make one of those TV dinners if you think you're gonna die of hunger." I say in a rather sarcastic tone while turning so I face forward once again. I walk down the sidewalk for about fifteen minutes in silence, with the exceptions of cars passing by, the wind, and birds chirping. Approaching the door, I knock multiple times without an answer. As a last resort I turn the door knob. To my surprise, the door is unlocked. "Zelda?" I look around to see that she's not in the living room or kitchen. I go upstairs to peek in Gaepora's study to find yet another empty room. Shortly after something catches my eye, a light on that I can barely see from under a door.

"H-Hey..." I'm greeted by a half asleep Zelda sitting at her desk as I walk in. I've never once seen her look so sick. Her skin is paler than usual, her voice is so scratchy and almost inaudible that if she wasn't in front of me right now, I wouldn't be able to tell that it's her.

"Hey," I snap in front of her face when she starts dozing off while sitting there. "Stay awake for a few minutes, would ya? You should at least go back to your bed before you go off falling asleep in the middle of a conversation."

"Okay..." Zelda nods slowly almost like a little kid before spacing out. I put my bag down and pull out her chair. She manages to remain sitting upright. I swipe her bangs out of her face rather awkwardly. Her skin is sweaty and feverishly warm, which is somewhat expected with how scratchy her voice sounds.

"You're burning up! Did Gaepora just leave home with you this sick?" This question keeps her from shutting her eyes again, and now she's more awake.

"No... It wasn't that bad until yesterday."

I sigh, "Then why didn't you call someone?"

She looks down, "I didn't want to bother anyone... Father needed to go to that meeting so he wouldn't get in trouble and-"

I cut Zelda off, "That's not a reason at all... I swear for someone so smart you do some pretty stupid crap sometimes." I grab her hand and hoist her up. "C'mon, you need to lay down." She leans on me while walking crookedly. I move her blanket out of the way and help her onto the bed.

"I'm sorry..." Zelda murmurs.

"It's fine... Look, have you eaten?" She remains still for a few minutes before shaking her head no in response. "I'll go see if you guys have some soup in the cabinets or something... Go ahead and take a nap or something if you want." I start walking out of the room before she can object and then I go downstairs to the kitchen. "Soup..." I murmur to myself as I look through several cabinets for my desired object. When I find a can of cucco soup, I put it on the counter and look for a pot. This search ends rather quickly and I begin to cook.

* * *

"Mmm..." Zelda takes a bite of the soup after blowing on it for a bit. "This tastes really good..."

I give her a small smile, "hopefully it'll help with your throat."

After a few minutes of eating, she looks up from the food with a slightly confused look on her face. "...Why did you come here, anyway?"

"Professor Owlan told me that you wouldn't be at school until further notice..." I pick up my bag from the floor and grab out the papers. "He wanted me to give you last week and this week's assignments." Putting the papers on her desk, I go up to the window and crack it open slightly for fresh air.

"Oh... Could I see them for a minute?"

I shake my head no. "You can look at them at some other time, you don't need to be stressed out by school when you're sick enough already."

"You're one to talk..."

"I'm not the one who got sick, am I?" I ask in a smart alecy tone. She laughs a bit before coughing.

"I guess you have a point..." Zelda says after stopping her coughing fit. "...I'm surprised you didn't with how devoted you became to studying for the exams."

"Karane's been insisting that the studying turned me into an airhead so I guess I didn't leave that state of mind unscathed." I sigh.

"I see." She says as she puts her now almost completely empty bowl on her night stand. I get up from sitting on her desk and I grab the bowl before starting to walk out of the room. "Link...?"

"What?" I stop mid-step and look at her.

"...Are you leaving after this?"

"Why?"

"I-If it wouldn't be inconvenient... Could you stay here a bit longer?" Zelda looks to the side, her face slightly red.

"You need sleep though if you're going to get better any time soon."

"Could you at least stay until I fall asleep...?" She asks in a way that little kids tend to do, which isn't very normal at all for someone like Zelda.

"Alright."

* * *

I open my eyes slowly, after losing the ability to sleep with the sun in my eyes without it being distracting. I look around confusingly to find myself sitting at Zelda's desk. Digging through my pocket, I pull out my phone. When I turn it on since it was off while I was at school yesterday, it's practically blown up with notifications. Thankfully, it's on vibrate so it doesn't make much noise. I get up out of the chair and go downstairs as quietly as I can before hitting call.

"Hey..." I greet in a rather groggy voice, still half asleep from moments earlier.

"Where the fire temple are you?!" I have to pull the phone away from my ear to prevent Pipit from making me go deaf.

"Zelda's house..."

"Wait.. What? You're still there? Don't tell me you and Zelda-"

I cut him off, fully awake at this point due to his accusation. "No! I went to go drop off those assignments but when I got there Zelda had a high fever... I couldn't exactly just leave her like that." Noise comes from the background before someone else takes the phone.

"Are you serious, Link?" Karane asks in a rather fed up voice. "Just how exactly did she end up sick all of a sudden?"

"Well... If I had to guess when we were in the rain waiting for you two to pick us up last weekend from the mall."

"Oh..." She says, a bit less sarcastically than when she first took the phone. "Look. I'll pick you up around lunch time and take you to school, I have a dentist appointment anyway. Be ready by then. In the mean time just take care of Zelda."

"Okay." I reply, not exactly able to object at this point since me staying the night at Zelda's sounds rather misleading on many levels and Karane's obviously not pleased about it. "Wait, if you're at school then how come you're on the phone?"

"Substitute teacher. The one that always acts hungover and doesn't do much else but sleep at the desk."

"Oh... Alright. I think I should go ahead and go by the house really quick to get a change of clothes before I come back to the house. See you at noon."

"See you then." The phone beeps as she hangs up. I look at the phone's clock.

"Nine... Guess I got three hours." I go to the kitchen and find a pen and a piece of paper. After writing a note on it, I go upstairs and place it by Zelda's bed.

* * *

A car horn starts honking repeatedly. I look out the window to see Karane in the driveway before glancing back at the still sleeping Zelda. I grab my bag and then head downstairs, shutting the door gently behind me.

"Thanks." I murmur as I get into the car. She locks the car and turns on the windshield wipers as it starts to rain.

"Why didn't you or Zelda say anything to me?" Karane starts backing out of the driveway.

"Zelda didn't even tell me, she was passed out at her desk when-"

"No, not about that." She glares at me from the rear view mirror. "When were either of you going to say something about her having cancer?"

I swallow hard and try not to slam my head on the dashboard due to being annoyed by Pipit's lack of ability to keep a secret when he gave his word. "So he told you..."

"I was tired of not knowing what the fire temple was up with the three of you over the past few weeks. You've become a nervous wreck-"

I cut Karane off, "No I haven't."

"When you're legitimately studying for the first time in your life, constantly spacing out and ill tempered to try to hide that, it becomes more than a bit noticeable Link." She sighs. "Zelda's probably taken notice of it too. That might be why she opted to just stay home besides being sick at the moment." I fall silent and look out the window, deciding not to add anymore fuel to the fire. "Look? Are you going to say anything or just sit there and sulk because you know I'm right?"

"You're stubborn..."

"Darn straight I am. This goes without saying, but you better not end up hurting her. I get you two have been friends since you were kids but you need to realize that she worries about you more than herself. Shutting the world out and pretending to be occupied with schoolwork isn't going to keep anyone else unaware that you're scared. I am too, Zelda's been a good friend of mine since kindergarten..." We're stopped in the middle of traffic, giving me the realization that this lecture isn't going to end very shortly. "Just because you're scared doesn't mean you have to go with whatever Zelda says. I'm pretty sure by now she basically put a gag rule on you about it but it doesn't help her either if she's bottling up all of her emotions about this."

"She asked me to help tell you two a bit ago but the original plan was to do so when she was okay with the idea. Not when I went full on stupid by letting that slip in an argument with Pipit."

"Fair enough I guess..." The light turns green and we finally get somewhere rather than just sitting there having a somewhat one sided argument.


	5. Long Day

**Hey~!**

**Shadow1011: Thanks!**

**Dia Newman: XD I'm trying to have things be a bit interesting. I've seen so many "Zelda characters in high school" fanfics done on this website that I almost find it to be ridiculous. I'm attempting to keep this as interesting as possible.**

**I apologize for the late update. I had some personal issues I had to take care of over the past few weeks. Now I'm out of school for the summer so hopefully I'll quit slacking and maybe post a new fanfic or two while I work on this and Rewind (though I'm having problems coming up with what to do for that story at the moment). Aside from that I spent all day working on this, drawing...and cyber stalking Nintendo due to their awesome job at E3. Hyrule Warriors and Zelda Wii U look boss by the way and now I'm slowly realizing with all of these game announcements I might just use my baby-sitting money to get those games instead of a computer so I can finally stop writing my fanfics primarily on my Wii U.**

**Moving on, this chapter may seem a bit more filler-ish than the others but I felt that I needed to try and focus on Link a bit more to make his character a bit more in depth and crap like that. Sooo yeah, I'll shut up now. Please enjoy this update! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

"Today's lunch is ham and cheese sandwiches with a side of apple crisp and potato chips... As for other announcements, prom is exactly two weeks away, if you want to go I'd suggest getting some things prepared ahead of time. Please, keep all outfits worn there following dress code or a teacher will escort you out. Same goes for any dancing done..."

I tap my pencil so the end hits my knuckles repeatedly. "These announcements are so stupid I swear..." I murmur.

"Quiet down please," Mr. Horwell says as he passes my desk. After the announcements are over with, I stare blankly at my textbook. A month and a half. That's how long it's been since anything at school or home has been normal for me. Zelda doesn't show up to school, I haven't had a half decent conversation with Karane and Pipit without one of us losing our temper in weeks, and otherwise it's a miracle that I haven't been driven insane with rumors going around since someone saw me walk out of Zelda's house. "Link." Mr. Horwell taps my desk with a ruler.

"W-what?"

"Pay attention and start reading page 478 aloud for us, if you would." He ends up glaring at several students for snickering before glancing back at me. "And see me after class." I sigh before reading.

* * *

"Detention?"

"Yes. What do you expect when you haven't turned in any of your homework assigments in the past two weeks?" Mr. Horwell opens his desk drawer and pulls out a piece of paper. "Go down to the art room once you grab your meal at lunch time and show the supervisor this." He writes on the paper, folds it, and hands it to me.

"Fine, whatever." I take it and walk out the door to try to avoid being late to my next class. The hallway isn't as crowded as usual, meaning half of passing period is almost over with. I go to my locker and open it, looking frantically for my next hour's book. As soon as I shut the door, I see Groose leaning against the locker, somewhat looking stupid in his attempt to seem casual about it.

"So..." I turn around and start walking as soon as he opens his mouth. "Hey!" He moves in front of me, blocking my way. "Listen to me for a minute, would ya?" I remain silent, not wanting to speak what's on my mind. "Why hasn't Zelda come to school lately?"

"She's sick."

"And I'm the queen of Termina. Don't play stupid." He crosses his arms.

I brush him aside, "I'm going to be late for class."

"That's such a shame then. Explain and I'll let you go." He blocks my way.

"I told you the truth already, Zelda's sick." I glare at Groose as he continues to be ignorant.

"With what?"

"None of your business." I try to get past him once more.

Groose shakes his head, "Fine." He moves slightly off to the side. "Let me know if it's a boy or girl since you obviously don't want to admit you screwed Zelda over." I trip over his foot before I even take three steps away from the scene. "For the longest time I kind of had a crush on her but of course she just clung to her little childhood friend, I never got to say anything to her about it." I fall face first onto the ground. "If you see her, how about you ask her if she'll show me a good time like she did for you? I'm sure she wouldn't care, if she's going to act like a whore she might as well go all out-"

"Say that again..." I slowly get up, not bothering to grab my book as I begin to give into my temptations.

"I asked if you'd see if that slut would-" Without much thought, I let my fist land in the middle of his face just as the tardy bell rings. I freeze immediately afterward, my knuckles starting to sting from the impact.

_Did I do that...? _ My arm starts to tremble. Groose wipes blood dripping from his nose before returning the favor. I stand there in a daze, trying to grasp what I'm doing at the moment. I fight back, making him slam into nearby lockers. ..._I did._ At that sudden realization, I can't move. I can't think. Not enough to fend off Groose's continuous hits that I somewhat provoked, anyway.

* * *

_"What did you say to me, boy?" He has a tight grip on my chin as he makes me look up at him. I stay quiet as he slaps me. For once- just once -I get up and attempt to hit him back. _

_Mother goes in front of me as he grabs a belt. "Stop!" She sobs, shielding me as her tears roll down her face._

* * *

I'm brought back to reality as several teachers pull Groose off of me and keep him a good five feet away. I remain sitting there on the floor next to my book I dropped. Behind the mess in front of me, I see students fighting for a chance to look through the classroom door's window and get a glimpse of the commotion.

"Link." Prof. Owlan snaps his fingers in front of my face, ultimately scaring my half to death fairly easily. I just keep trembling, not just because of fear... but anger. I try to get up, only to get a reality check as to what injuries I've gained within the few minutes of memory I'm missing from those first few punches to me being on the floor with teachers interfering. Without much regard to the fact a janitor will have to clean it up later, I spit up blood. My stomach flops with the copper-like taste in my mouth that I've grown to be disgusted by. Within a few minutes I become light headed and any attention I gave to my surroundings becomes slowly nonexistent.

* * *

I wince in pain as the school nurse uses a disinfectant on my scraped up face. "Stay still for a minute, would you? I'm almost done cleaning your wounds, then-" I grab the trash can and become sick for a third time since I've come back to my senses. "Oh Farore..." She gets up from her spinny chair and grabs a paper cup, then fills it with water. "Drink it slowly, alright?" I nod and do as instructed.

"Navi," Gaepora walks in from a door that connects the principal's office to the nurse's. "Are both of them treated yet? I've contacted their parents and guardians, they'll be here shortly to discuss the consequences of their... quarrel."

"I think it needs to wait at least a day. I can treat some of their wounds but both have signs of concussions and likely some broken bones. They need better medical attention than what I can offer."

"Very well." He leaves, giving me a brief gentle glance before his stern look resurfaces.

The nurse starts putting bandages on my wounds, "What's today's date?"

"You already asked me that..." I murmur.

"Fair enough. I'll be back in a minute, feel free to lie down as long as you don't fall asleep." She slides in her chair across the hard wood floor, and goes past the curtain dividing the room for a moment. I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling for a moment. I lift my arm so I can see my bandaged hand before slowly trying to move my fingers. A jolt of pain stops me from continuing rather quickly. The scene plays through my mind again.

"Why... why am I remembering this right now...?" I murmur before letting my hand fall to my side again. A door leading to this room opens, bringing me out of my thoughts and also startling me. Gaepora walks into the room. I sit up and look at him with a rather straight face.

"Your aunt is in the main office and I also talked with Pipit. I'm going to ask you about this before I talk to Groose." He sits in a chair. "Which one of you threw the first punch?"

"I did." I answer rather bluntly.

He gives a bit of a shocked look before clearing his throat, "did you take your medication today?"

"No."

"That's all I wanted to ask of you... Go ahead to the main office." Gaepora stands up and goes past the curtain. I slowly get up and start walking. "Groose, I'd like to ask you a question or two before I leave you to wait for your mother to come pick you up." I stop mid-step out of curiosity.

"Fine."

"What did you say to provoke Link?" I smirk, how could he just take my word for it instead of asking for both sides of the story like the principal is supposed to in a situation like this?

"W-What? He punched me for no reason!" Groose stutters.

"Now Groose... I've known Link for maybe ten years now, and as I'm to remain unbiased in this situation I know for a fact that he wouldn't do something of the extreme of starting a fight without a reason."

"I heard you when you were asking him some questions! He didn't take his medicine or whatever, right?"

"What I discussed with the other student involved in this situation is not to be brought into this conversation." I walk out of the room and begin to lean on the wall a bit, feeling dizzy. I walk down the hall to the main office to see Aunt Mallara and Pipit sitting in chairs looking at random magazines. It's only when I approach them that they notice my presence.

Pipit refuses to look me in the eye and Aunt Mallara just stands up and grabs her belongings. "Let's go."

"But Mom, don't we have to wait for Mr. Harkinian to-"

"The school can just call me later about it." She starts walking out the door, and we follow shortly after. Then, we walk to her car that's thankfully close to the entrance and get in as soon as it's unlocked. When she starts the car, the radio surprisingly doesn't start blasting music as it usually does. Instead we sit in a dreary silence as Aunt Mallara starts to drive. "Next time, if you're going to get into a fight at least try to win instead of ending up taking a beating."

"_That's _the only thing you're going to say to him about this?" Pipit raises his voice a bit, seeming slightly annoyed.

She looks at him from the corner of his eye before redirecting her gaze to the street. "If you want, I can drop you off at home before I take Link to the ER."

"What? I don't need-"

Aunt Mallara cuts me off, "Who's the adult here? I realize that you're eighteen now but you're not exactly mature when making decisions today. At the least you should get your hand checked for broken bones, whether or not you broke anything you can get some pain meds prescribed to you."

"Just go ahead and take me home, please." Pipit sighs.

* * *

I shut the car door as I sit down in the shotgun seat. "We'll go stop by the pharmacy before I drop you off... Mr. Harkinian called while you were getting x-rays..." I look out the window and stare at the cloudy skies looming over us. "Link, snap out of it. Did you hear anything I said?"

"W-What?"

"You're suspended for the next three days due to you throwing the first punch... The other boy is suspended for the same amount of time, with a week of detention." Aunt Mallara starts the car and starts pulling out of the parking spot after looking at our surroundings.

"Lucky me, a five day weekend."

She sighs at my smart alec remark, "Could you quit acting like a five year old for a few minutes?"

"Fine."

She looks in her purse for a second before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Do you have a lighter?" Without much thought, I pull out my purple and yellow lighter from my left pocket where I always keep it. She gives me a disappointed look as soon as we're at a red light. "You still smoke?"

"No, I quit when Pipit and I moved out. I just have the habit of keeping this with me." Aunt Mallara hands the lighter back to me and opens the box, only to contain gum. "And you were just testing me, weren't you?"

"In the past ten years you've lived at my house I don't believe I've ever smoked whether or not I was around you or Pipit. I'm kind of shocked that you didn't question it... I'm more shocked by the fact you still have that old thing."

I finger the burnt end of the lighter. "I don't see why I wouldn't keep this."

"I guess... it was your mother's after all. Not like I have much else of hers to give you..." She starts to drive again once the light finally turns green. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I don't mind only having her lighter-"

Aunt Mallara cuts me off, "No, not about that. I shouldn't have brought her up."

"It's alright... Funny thing is I was thinking about _ him _when I got into that fight. I'm not sure why then of all times though..."

"Hey, calm down. He can't hurt her or you anymore... Over my dead body I'd let that pig get away with that again." She parks the car. "I'll go get your prescription. You can stay here if you'd like."

"Okay." I murmur. She leaves the car and it's only then that I realize why she told me to calm down. My hands are shaking so much that I could be compared to a soaking wet dog stuck outside during winter. I dig my nails into the seat trying to get it to stop. After a bit I get over it and just slump into the chair, no longer finding it comfortable to sit straight. My eyes begin to open and shut as I slowly begin to give into my exhaustion.

"Link, don't fall asleep, at least not for a few more hours. It's only six o'clock and you definitely have a concussion so you need to be up a bit more just to be safe." Aunt Mallara gets into the car and hands me a pop.

"Thanks..." I sit up and open the bottle, hearing a hissing sound while doing so before I take a drink of the fizzy liquid.

* * *

"Link has his medicine so please make sure he takes it. If something comes up just give me a call." Aunt Mallara says to Pipit as I groggily drag my feet as I go to my room.

"Okay. Bye Mom."

"Bye, love you." The door shuts and an eerie silence fills the apartment. I flop onto my bed and lie there motionlessly. From the corner of my eye, I see Pipit walk in the room. He doesn't say anything, nor does he even look at me. He just climbs onto the top bunk and remains there. I sigh before giving up on staying awake much longer. I slowly let sleep claim me in attempt to get rid of today.

* * *

My phone rings, pulling me out of my deep slumber. I grab it and then try pressing the 'OK' button, thinking an alarm went off or something. All it does is make my screen brighter and somewhat blinds me until my eyes adjust. After they do, I see that I'm receiving a call. I press answer. "...Hello?"

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" I'm fully awake compared to just moments ago when I recognize whose voice is on the other end of the line.

"N-No."

"Father told me what happened yesterday..." Zelda trails off for a second. "I just wanted to check up on you and see if you're okay."

"I just got a couple of scratches, I'm fine."

"...Can I come over?"

"R-Right now?" I sit up in bed and see that Pipit's gone, meaning it has to be well past seven a.m.

"If you wouldn't mind..."

"Okay."

"Uh..." She becomes quiet for a few minutes. "I'm sorry... I have to go, I'm getting another call."

"It's alright."

"See you in a bit?"

"Yeah."


	6. Ever the Same

**'Ello.**

**Dia Newman: You'll see what's going to happen soon enough. **

**Guest: That song called "Bad Day" came to mind when I read your review. I have to say though, that's pretty much a true and blunt statement about last chapter.**

**Lady. Zayriah: Thank you! I'm playing around with the story's ending, so I can't say for sure if it will end up being sad or happy. Hopefully this chapter makes up for Zelda's absence , I think she has more of a presence in this chapter than the last ones have. **

**ScarlettAlexandra: Thank you!**

**WolfenAmphithere: XD Groose isn't very trustworthy, so I can assure you that he was punished for that appropriately with the extra week of detention he was given in addition to three days of suspension.**

**SoulEaterBandit: Yep, Navi. Cause why not (even though I made her show up as a nurse). **

**So, as this is maybe my seventh fanfiction I've ever made, I've noticed something that I'm surprised no one has seemed to point out. I almost always have one chapter in my fanfics called "(A) Long Day" my example in this case of this being last chapter. While chapter titles don't matter I realize that it isn't very original of me and rather very repetitive, but in my defense I've been listening to "Long Day" by Matchbox Twenty a lot lately so yeaaah. Pointless "fun fact" before this hopefully lengthy chapter starts. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.**

* * *

I couldn't get out of bed quicker for guy with a broken hand that feels like absolute crap. I quickly change into some different clothes and try to make the house look half decent. To cover my temporary cast on my hand I put on a baggy sweatshirt before hearing a knock at the door. I put my beanie I got from Zelda on to hide my bed head before going to answer the door. "Hey-" I quickly trail off and everything is silent. I don't know who's having a harder time processing everything, her or me. I can say the fight resulted in a few injuries but my bruised face says otherwise. It was a rather obvious lie. But sometimes the biggest of shocks come from what remains unsaid...

"L-Link!" She shakes her head repeatedly and gently puts a hand on my face. "Just how exactly is this just a couple of scratches!?"

For some reason I find humor in her reaction, and I laugh a bit. "I'm sorry... I didn't really want to admit that Groose basically beat me an inch from my life over the phone." Despite my efforts to hide it in a rather quick and cheap way, she sees a bit more of how beat up I am. She takes my hand, making me wince in pain for a few moments while she's not looking at my face. She opens her mouth to speak, but I talk before she can. "You can scold me when you actually get inside, you shouldn't stand out in the hallway since it's actually colder than what it is in the apartment." She looks down before coming inside. I shut the door behind us and then we sit on the couch.

"Link... why did you...?" She takes a minute to think before giving me her usual motherly scolding look, "...Why did you get into a fight with him? You didn't have-"

"...I wasn't going to sit there and let Groose call you a slut." I sigh before leaning back on the couch so my head actually touches the wall a bit. "Or the other excuse is that I just had a bit of an outburst like some stereotypical bipolar kid just because I didn't take my medication so I'm not responsible for my actions... But truthfully I hate stereotyping so I'm just going to say it was the first thing even though I was very irritable yesterday."

She cracks a smile at this comment. "I can't go two months without seeing you without you doing something stupid, can I?"

"Evidently not." I can't stop staring at her, as rude as it is. She looks so pale, at this point only her voice and her grin makes her recognizable. Zelda looks at me, her smile seeming more and more forced. The conversation turns into how long I can play stupid and pretend I didn't notice.

She takes off the bandana she's had on her head since she came here and breaks the temporary silence. "...I look kind of ridiculous with no hair, don't I?"

"No, you don't." I reply almost immediately, no longer able to look at her acting like this. "Hair or not, you're beautiful either way." I blurt out before even thinking it through. I can feel my face practically erupt as soon as I say this. I want to hit myself upside the head when I see her eyes become watery. "I-I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't-"

"N...No," She wipes the tears from her eyes before they can spill. "Thank you..." Zelda shakes her head a bit at some point. "If people at school saw me like this... I'd seem pretty stupid." She puts the bandana back on and seems to brush the whole matter off. "Speaking of school... what have I missed?"

"Not much other than the fight. There's nothing going on in classes other than recaps for the year since prom is in two weeks and some of the teachers have to help with planning."

"How have Karane and Pipit been?" I bite my lip at her question.

"I... honestly don't know. Haven't really been talking to them lately."

The look on her face isn't shocked or anything, it's perfectly calm. "I see. Is it because you told them?"

"No..." I pause for a second. "Wait, how do you know-"

"Karane came by to visit me last week and gave me a half decent lecture." She says rather bluntly.

"I'm sorry for telling them without asking you about it first..." I say a bit awkwardly, almost unable to look at her while apologizing.

"It's fine. I asked you to help me tell them, didn't I? You did what I asked, there's nothing wrong with that."

"But if I didn't say anything then Karane wouldn't have lectured you-"

Zelda cuts me off, shaking her head. "Please... stop saying sorry and taking the blame for everything. It's not like you at all to be saying sorry to anyone."

"But.. Y-You're different." I stutter, trying to correctly word what I want to say.

"And just how exactly am I different as far as saying sorry goes?" She crosses her arms rather childishly like she used to do all the time when we were younger. I smirk a bit at the sight. She's still the same as she's always been after all.

"Because I can't stand seeing you act off. It's more unlike you than me getting rid of my attitude and saying sorry without someone telling me I have to. I don't like it..." I admit, looking to the side.

"I guess we both don't like how we're acting." I nod in agreement, still not looking at her. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about something..."

She sighs, "and there you go saying sorry again."

"Sorry." I say, finding delight in her apparent annoyance.

"Link!" She groans as she takes a square pillow from behind her on the couch and jokingly throws it at me. I block out of habit with my left hand, which happens to be the one I broke. A jolt of pain comes from my hand and I sit still, tensed up. "A-Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah... It just hurts a little, don't worry about it." Zelda places her hands over my broken one and runs her thumb over the wrap. Then she puts a bit of pressure there and I grit my teeth.

"Stop trying to act so tough all of the time... please? You'll just end up hurting yourself when everything is said and done." She continues to sit there with my hand in hers. "I can tell it hurts a lot, your face turned as pale as a ghost when the pillow hit your hand."

"It was that noticeable, huh...?" I continue to smirk even though I'm annoyed that she was quickly able to tell just how bad it hurt in a matter of seconds. She nods, looking down at my hand seeming rather deep in thought. She pulls my arm slightly, making me lean toward her a little more. Zelda lets go of my hand and we sit there staring at each other as our faces gradually come closer.

A knock at the door makes me jolt back to my own personal space away from her. "Link? Are you up? It's me, Aunt Mallara."

"C-Come in." I respond without much thought, knowing it would be a bit hard for Zelda to try to hide in such a small apartment. Zelda scoots to the other side of the couch rather quickly as Aunt Mallara opens the door, carrying a bag in one hand and her purse in the other.

"Hey-" She sees us and gives a mischievous smirk. "Was I interrupting something?"

I feel my face basically melt off when I realize what would've happened if there wasn't any interruptions. "N-No, we were just talking."

"I came over to ask for a recap on school... since I haven't been there for quite a while." Zelda adds.

"I see," She shuts the door behind her and heads to the kitchen with the bag. "Did this knucklehead tell you in detail how he got his ass beat in that fight?"

"Is that really necessary to ask?" I roll my eyes as Zelda smirks a bit at this.

"If you're going to show off your wounds you might as well explain how you got them."

"I'm not trying to show off any wounds-"

Aunt Mallara waves this off, opening the fridge. "I'm joking. Farore, did your sense of humor leave when your common sense decided to take a hike or what?"

"...What are you doing here anyway?" I murmur, not really caring if I sound rude at this point.

"I just brought some left overs so you and Pipit don't have to cook for a while." She shuts the fridge and then folds the now empty reusable bag. "Don't worry, I'll leave you two alone in a second or two so you can continue with your 'recap' business that seems to have left you jumpy and your face as red as my goron ruby necklace." She leaves the apartment without saying much else, resulting in the room becoming awkwardly silent.

Zelda looks at her watch. "I should probably get back in case Father comes home for his lunch break... I'll be at school on monday. Try not to skip... please?"

I nod, "alright." She stands up and heads towards the door.

"Thanks for letting me visit... It's been nice seeing you." The door opens.

"Nice seeing you too." She walks out. A few minutes later I lean back on the couch carelessly. "Idiot...!" I end up hitting the back of my head on the wall and I just sit there glaring at the kitchen.

_Why did Aunt Mallara have to come then of all times?_ Ishake my head, causing my beanie to rub against the wall back and forth until it falls off, almost going behind the couch. _No... why am I mad about this? I said I wouldn't say or do anything stupid around her. She has enough to worry about without me wanting to say how I feel... and I'm sitting here thinking about this when I look like someone wiped the floor with me and I didn't do much about it. _I grab the beanie and then the pillow that hit me before laying on my stomach on the couch with the pillow on top of my head. My right arm dangling from the couch with the beanie in hand.

* * *

I groggily sit in the kitchen, chugging luke warm coffee in hopes that the caffeine kicks in rather quickly. "...Yo."

Pipit stares at me as if a stranger just broke into the house. "W-Why the fire temple are you up so early?!" He walks into the kitchen and bothers to emphasise how freaked out he is by checking my forehead for signs of a fever.

"Can you get away from me? I'm not a morning person and I'm not exactly a people person, either." I look at him rather unamused, taking another sip of coffee.

"Fine. But really, why are you up?"

"I..." I think for a moment, taking a sip of coffee once again as an excuse to not give an answer immediately. "...wanted to get ready for school earlier than usual so I don't have to find out as soon as I wake up whether you're still mad at me or not."

"Din, are you still holding onto that? I was more annoyed than mad at you." He rolls his eyes, going to the coffee pot with a cup a quarter full of creamer. He begins to pour the coffee into his cup, "Anyway, you sure seem really eager to get back to school considering what happened."

I shrug. "Kind of tired of sitting around at home drugged up on pain meds and half asleep."

"I guess that would get boring after a bit." Pipit says as he puts bread in our toaster.

I smirk bitterly. "It'll be annoying if Groose goes around boasting that he beat me up." He gives me a confused glance.

"What?" I raise an eyebrow at his question. "You punched his face so many times that it's a miracle he didn't lose sight in his right eye."

"What are you talking about, I don't remember that at all." I look at him in disbelief.

"A student saw the fight in the hall because they were running late for class. According to them you pinned him down and beat his face in and then Groose took the upper hand and returned the favor before the teachers noticed and broke up the fight. Ring a bell?" He takes his toast and sits at the table next to me. I try hard for a few minutes to remember it, but I don't.

I shake my head no. "I can't recall any of that..."

"You haven't thought of how you broke your hand in a fist fight that basically consisted of hitting each other in the face? You hit his head in possibly the worst places to do so. You're supposed to go after someone's mouth or nose to avoid breaking your own hand in the process but you hit him in the upper right corner of his face repeatedly."

"Wait, since when do you know anything about fighting?" I put my cup in the sink.

"I have my ways."

* * *

"Zelda?" Pipit looks confused at her as she meets up with us at the bus stop.

"Hi," She turns to greet us with a crooked smile. "...It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah... What happened to your-" I elbow Pipit in the stomach. "Ow!"

Zelda gives me a look of disapproval before facing the street again. "The treatment has a side effect of hair loss." Her words hang in the air. She doesn't show any emotion, not like when she visited the other day. Instead of a cheerful grinning Zelda, a girl with a warped smile is standing in front of us trying to remain composed.

"Oh." Pipit replies in a rather awkward tone of voice. The screeching noise of the bus's brakes disrupts the silence that looms over us.

The door opens, and one by one we get on. Usually the bus is rather quiet in the morning, all of its passengers half asleep and some giving into their desire for just five more minutes of slumber before engaging in human interaction within the school hallways and classrooms. But now, whispers sweep through the front of the bus to the back of it, the bus driver being the only one indifferent to our presence. The almost maddening part of it all being that there's no exact cause to the event. Was it the because I came onto the bus with bandages all over my face and my arm in a sling? The fact I apparently beat up Groose who is infamous for being the cause of numerous long term injuries to opposing teams while playing sports? Zelda's re-appearance after being gone so long, and now looking completely different? That stupid rumor that surfaced once someone saw me walk out of Zelda's house?

I sit down in the first empty seat I see, trying to dodge any glances I'm given by the people around me. Zelda sits next to me and Pipit sits across the aisle from us. I drum my fingers on the seat in front of me as I stare out of the window. It's beginning to look like one of those days where I wonder if things will ever be the same considering what's happened.


End file.
